Dizziness after diving

[GaetanBidaud]

Hello everyone,

My name is Gaetan and I am new on that forum so let me briefly introduce myself before going to my issue I am Swiss national living in north Uganda, travel lover and of course big fan of diving!

So my question is the following: on my last two diving trips (10 dives the first and 6 the second - Feb 2018 and Jan 2019) I felt dizzy after my dives, usually lasting a couple of hours during the afternoon. Kind of small vertigos and nausea, but no vomiting. The intensity was different from a time to another but I feel that it has increased. I do not recall such feelings when I did my first dives in 2016. I am going to dive next month in Mozambique and would like to get opinions on what could that be. I have read about internal ear issues. If so, would it be dangerous for me to keep diving?

thanks a lot for your support

 

[Pedro Burrito]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

Moved from Intro

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[BenjaminF]

Speak to DAN. Health advice from people on the internet is worth the money which you paid for that advice...

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hello everyone,

My name is Gaetan and I am new on that forum so let me briefly introduce myself before going to my issue I am Swiss national living in north Uganda, travel lover and of course big fan of diving!

So my question is the following: on my last two diving trips (10 dives the first and 6 the second - Feb 2018 and Jan 2019) I felt dizzy after my dives, usually lasting a couple of hours during the afternoon. Kind of small vertigos and nausea, but no vomiting. The intensity was different from a time to another but I feel that it has increased. I do not recall such feelings when I did my first dives in 2016. I am going to dive next month in Mozambique and would like to get opinions on what could that be. I have read about internal ear issues. If so, would it be dangerous for me to keep diving?

thanks a lot for your support

Good morning @GaetanBidaud ,

There could be a number of factors at play here. The most worrisome would be contaminated air. If the breathing gas source was the same for both dive trips, I would be concerned for that.

Another explanation could be a condition called alternobaric vertigo. This is where one middle ear space equalizes before the other, typically on ascent, and you're left with two different pressures inside your middle ears. This can lead to transient vertigo, which usually disappears immediately when the offending middle ear space eventually clears. If you're diving with congestion, this would be higher on the list of possibilities.

Another potential cause of post-dive vertigo is inner ear barotrauma, but given your description of it clearing up between dives, this would be pretty low on the differential for me, as would inner ear decompression sickness.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[caydiver]

Or a dive doctor. I would check out where the closest chamber is to where you are diving unless you have seen a dive doc who gives you the heads up before the trip.
Sorry DDM. Typing at same time.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Speak to DAN. Health advice from people on the internet is worth the money which you paid for that advice...

DAN advice is free, as is the advice given by the many medical professionals on this forum.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[BenjaminF]

@Duke Dive Medicine , I really didn't mean any disrespect with what I said

The problem with the internet is that it makes it REALLY hard to determine if the person giving advice is an expert like yourself, or somebody who just sounds like he knows what he is talking about but in reality is making it up as they go.

 

[caydiver]

I get where @BenjaminF is coming from. I have seen many posts on Scubaboard and elsewhere giving advice from everything to divers who need assistance with gear to accessing dive sites with kids who snorkel etc, that has been totally incorrect and possibly dangerous. There is no knowledge of how the ops work, what if any safety measures are in place—It is not based on first hand experience or knowledge. Instead it is “I think, I heard, someone said”, etc. It is very sad that this is part of the online culture but it happens. I would take advice from a solid source like @Duke Dive Medicine any day, but some the others, not so much. Sadly I wouldn’t have known the info was not accurate if I wasn’t directly involved in the business locally. They are areas which almost 30 years as a visitor coming at least 2x a year for weeks at a time would not given me any right to offer advice on as it was not part of a customer experience. Seeing it from the other side now, sometimes hoping that folks will realize the info is wrong is all you can do.

 

[scubaozy]

Are you getting anti malarial medication like Lariam (looking at your location)? They will have your described side effects with scuba diving.
Scuba Page - The Travel Doctor

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

@Duke Dive Medicine , I really didn't mean any disrespect with what I said

The problem with the internet is that it makes it REALLY hard to determine if the person giving advice is an expert like yourself, or somebody who just sounds like he knows what he is talking about but in reality is making it up as they go.

That's a perennial problem with the internet, whether it's health care education or learning about dive operators and sites like @caydiver mentioned. It's all caveat emptor, so I do see what you're saying. At the same time, I would not completely turn someone off to information to be gained in a forum like this. It's limited in scope, of course, and often the medical folks here end up recommending that somebody be evaluated in person, but it's a good starting place. Thanks for the dialogue.

Best regards,
DDM